Machine for erecting a leakproof container



Aug. 29, 1961 F. J. ERWIN, JR. EI'AL 2,997,717

MACHINE FOR ERECTING A LEAKPROOF CONTAINER Filed Feb. 1, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 l f/wavrms:

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37 M, W W

Aug. 29, 1961 F. J. ERWIN, JR. EFAL 2,997,717

MACHINE FOR ERECTING A LEAKPROOF' CONTAINER Filed Feb. 1, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 29, 1961 F. J. ERWlN, JR., EIAL 2,997,717

MACHINE FOR ERECTING A LEAKPROOF CONTAINER Filed Feb. 1, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 y :MY 5 f M W Z. m Z 4 //M Mam z 7 i M PM Z .4 Y W5 FIG.6

2,997,717 MACHINE FOR ERECTING A LEAKPROOF CONTAINER Frederick J. Erwin, Jr., Leban'on, Ill., and William E.

May, St. Louis County, Mo., assignors to Crown Zellerbach Corporation, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Nevada Filed Feb. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 5,853 7 Claims. (Cl. 1--331) This invention relates to an improved machine for erecting a container. More particularly, the invention relates to a stitching machine with a mandrel for erecting a leakproof container, such as an asphalt drum or bag having an unobstructed inside with no joints or staples exposed to the contents, except for the manufacturers joint.

In the past, asphalt has been shipped in metal drums or in heavy fiberboard containers. Recent developments have eliminated these heavy and more expensive containers by providing lighter foldable material having an asphalt release coating on the inside thereof. Such a container is shown in the copending George patent application Serial No. 700,225 filed December 2, 1957, and assigned to the assignee of this application.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide mechanical means for quickly and easily erecting an expendable container for receiving tflowable material. Another object is to provide a simple and rapid means for erecting such a container in a manner which causes the inside surface, which the asphalt or other material contacts, to be completely free from stitching.

Another object is to provide a machine which can be quickly and easily operated by one man for quickly and easily erecting a paperboard container. Another object is to provide a machine wherein the bottom of said con tainer after stitching and after the container has been released from the mandrel is slightly concave.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter.

The present invention is embodied in a machine com prising a stitcher and a mandrel, for erecting a container to form a tubular body with a bottom having overhang ing portions which are folded into flat relation to the bottom to permit the ends thereof to be connected.

The invention also consists in the parts and in the arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter de* scribed and claimed. In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification and wherein like numerals and symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a machine em bodying the present invention with an unerected con' tainer partially slipped over the mandrel,

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the machine,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the container on the mandrel after the body has been opened and after the bottom has been flattened on the mandrel,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing the overhanging triangular portions rotated inwardly toward the central bottom,

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view showing the mandrel pivoted to the stitching position,

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view nited States Patent 0 showing the mandrel in detail in its expanded position,

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view showing the anvil in the shallow pocket of the container bottom ready to receive and bend the ends of a staple,

FIG. 8 is a view of the container bottom showing the single stitch after the anvil has been removed,

FIG. 9 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view of the shallow pocket in the central portion of the bottom,

FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line 1010 of FIG. 9, and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the erected container ready to receive asphalt material.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the machine and method of the present invention are used in connection with a container C which initially is in flattened form having two flattened panels 1 and 2 defined by edge scores 3 and 4 with a single glued manufacturers joint 5 connecting the edges. Four longitudinal score lines 6 are provided which form the side corners 7 of the container C when erected. A transverse score 8 divides the unerected container C into a side wall forming portion 9 and a bottom forming portion 10, and defines the bottoms or bottom corners of the side walls 11 and 12 as well as the bottom 13. Diagonal scores are provided which form edges 14 of bellows fold triangular sections 15 and 16. The upper end 17 of the container C is open and has a transverse score 18. The lower end 19 is provided with a transverse lower score 20 which forms a fin joint 21 about one inch high. The bottom transverse opening in the fin joint 21 is covered with the tape 22 about two inches wide, which is secured thereto by suitable means 23, such as stitching. The tape 22 has ends 24 and 25 which extend beyond the edge scores 3 and 4 about an inch.

The container C is made from paperboard of desired strength and is further provided with an inside coating which prevents fiowable or fluid material from penetrating the paperboard. Such a container is described in greater detail in the George application Serial No. 700,- 225, and a suitable asphalt release coating is described in the Rother and McManus Patent No. 2,916,466 dated December 8, 1959.

The machine A includes a stitching machine or a post stitcher S which drives the stitch or staple 23 at a predetermined time. The stitcher S comprises a pedestal 26 with an upstanding frame 27 thereon having an upper portion 28 which supports a stitching head 29 having an anvil or blade 30 therebelotw, said blade having a forward edge 31. The frame 27 supports the necessary parts required for such a stitcher S, such as an air compressor 32 and accumulator 33, a motor 34 and flywheel 35, a suitable air line lubricator 36 and regulator 37 with the necessary connections and air hoses 38 leading to a pedal or foot switch 39. The anvil 30 is of narrow width and is of predetermined length having a center stop 40 and micro-switch 41 at a predetermined distance rearwardly of its forward edge 31. The pedestal 26 is provided with a base plate 42 and an upstanding pivot assisting spring 43.

The mandrel M is movably or pivotally connected to the base plate 42 of the stitcher S by a pivot pin. 44. The mandrel M comprises a lower frame 45 having upstanding forming bars or arms 46 pivotally connected hereto by Pi 7. e rm 6 is pr v dss it; 9992! corner 7 of the container C to be formed, but if desired the two arms adjacent to the machine may be made integral and the two opposing arms may be made integral. The arms 46 are normally biased close to one another and contact a center support 48 connected to the frame 45. The center support 48 supports a transverse mounting bar 49 to which is connected suitable power means, such as an air cylinder 50 having a downwardly extending actuator arm 51 to which toggle arms 52 are pivotally connected, the other ends of said toggle arms 52 being pivotally connected to the forming bars 46 by pins 53. Return means such as a spring 54 circumscribes the lower portion of the actuating arm 51 and normally biases the arm 51 upwardly so that the forming bars 46 are normally in their closed position, as shown in FIG. 1. The outer portions of the forming bars 46 are provided with spring guides 55 having flared upper portions 56 and lower portions 57 positioned in mountings 58 which are a predetermined distance from the tops 59 of the forming bars 46. The frame 45 is provided with an upstanding bracket 60 for receiving one end of a spring 61, the other end of which is attached to the frame 27 of the machine. The mandrel frame 45 is provided with a lower cross-bar 62 with a socket 63 for receiving the pivot assisting spring 43. The springs 43 and 61 are of such strength that they tend to counterbalance the weight of the mandrel M so that it can be pivoted from its inoperative positio'n shown in FIG. 1 to its stitching position shown in FIG. 5, and retracted therefrom, with minimum effort.

The pivot pin 44 about which the mandrel M pivots is so positioned and the parts of the mandrel M are so dimensioned that an imaginary plane passing through the tops 59 of said forming bars 46 is slightly inclined with respect to the anvil 30 when the mandrel M is in its staple receiving position, as best shown in FIGS. and 6. The pivot pin 44 is shown positioned rearwardly of the forward edge 31 of the anvil 30, that is, rearwardly of a vertical plane passing through the stitching head 29. The purpose of this slight incline is to cause the anvil 30 to automatically depress the bottom 13- of the container C into slight concave condition so that the erected container will also have a slightly concave shape.

It is believed that the operation of the machine A is apparent from the foregoing description and drawings. With the parts as shown in FIG. 1, the flattened container C is bowed slightly and its upper open end 17 is inserted over the tops 59 of the forming bars 46 and moved downwardly until the edge 17 is received by the spring guides 55 and contacts the mountings 58. In this position, the

tops 17 of the forming bars 46 are adjacent to the transverse score 8 which forms the bottoms of the side walls 11 and 12 and the corners of the forming bars 46 are adjacent to the corners 7.

The foot switch 39 is then depressed to cause air from the air compressor 32 and/or accumulator 33 to be directed into the air cylinder 50 to force the piston therein downwardly thereby moving the actuating arm 51 downwardly against the force of the spring 54 and pivoting the toggle arms 52 to pivot the forming bars 46 outwardly to their open position, as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. This opens the tubular body 9 into hollow tube form and flattens the entire portion of the container C above the transverse score 8 into a polygon or bottom portion having a rectangular central portion 64 and two overhanging triangular portions and 16 with the fin joint 21 and tape 22 extending across the entire polygon, as shown in FIG. 3.

The fin joint 21 is then folded in the direction of the anvil 30 into flatwise relation to the bottom central portion 64 and overhanging triangular portions 15 and 16. The overhanging triangular portions 15 and 16 are then pivoted upwardly and inwardly, as shown in FIG. 4, so that one portion 15 overlaps one edge portion of the bottom 64 and the other portion 16 overlaps the opposite edge portion of the bottom 64 with the tape 22 being folded back upon itself and the tape ends 24 and 25 in overlapping relation. The respective ends of the fin joint 21 will thus be in substantially endwise abutment. With the parts in this position, as best shown in FIG. 7, a shallow substantially horizontal pocket P is formed between the forward edges 14 of the triangular portions 15 and 16 where they are closest to each other.

The operator then pivots the mandrel M forwardly toward the stitcher S, as best shown in FIG. 5, so that the anvil 30 contacts the bottom 13 at a slight angle and forces the bottom central portion 64 downwardly into a slightly concave position, and the shallow pocket P moves over the end of the anvil 30 a distance of slightly less than the width of the fin joint 21, which is about one inch. In this position, the side 11 contacts micro-switch 41 which automatically causes the head 29 to drive a staple 23 downwardly to assemble the parts and hold them in erected position. Each leg of the staple 23 pierces the ends 24 and 25 of the tape 22 and then pierces the taped fin joint 21 and is clinched therebelow. The staple 23 does not penetrate the central portion 64 of the bottom 13 or any material other than the fin joint 21 and tape 22. The pivot pin 44 and mandrel M are so positioned that the container bottom 13 is not horizontal when the staple is driven, but is at a slight angle as shown in FIG. 5 to depress the bottom.

The mandrel M is pivoted away by hand from the head 29 to its inoperative position and the pedal 39 is released so that the forming bars 46 move together, since the air in the cylinder 50 is released and the spring 54 is free to force the arm 51 upwardly to retract the forming bars 46. The container C is then slid upwardly by hand off of the mandrel M and set on its bottom 13. In this position, the container C rests substantially upon the bottom corners 8 since the bottom 13 has been purposely formed in a slightly concave manner. If this is not done, the container C must be erected with extreme care to make certain that the bottom is substantially flat, since otherwise the natural tendency of the material to spring outwardly forms a slightly rounded bottom which causes the container to wobble slightly. This wobbling condition can be dangerous since the containers are to be filled with asphalt or bituminous material which must be heated to make it flowable. Should this hot material be directed against the side wall of a wobbling container, it may tend to tip it over thereby creating a dangerous condition to the operator. Once the container has been filled, the top portion may be closed in any suitable fashion.

When the container C has been completely erected as described, the interior thereof is completely unobstructed. That is, the bottom 13 and side walls 11. and 12 are not pierced by any staple and the flowable material does not contact any staple so as to leak through the hole formed by the legs. The flowable material does not enter the fin joint 21 nor the rebent triangular portions 15 and 16, since these are effectively closed when folded as previously described.

The tape 22 is preferably secured to the fin joint 21 by heavy thread applied by a stitching machine along a line parallel to the lower end 19 and lower score 20 about midway therebetween. This effectively seals the opening in the lower end 19 of the container C.

This invention is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim is:

l. A machine for erecting a container, said machine comprising a stitcher and a mandrel, said stitcher having a stitching head and an anvil thereunder, said mandrel being movable toward and away from said anvil, said mandrel comprising movable forming bars adapted to move from a closed position for receiving an unerected container to an open position wherein said forming bars are substantially parallel to each other so as to open the tubular side wall forming portion of said container, actuating means for moving said forming bars to their open position, means for retracting the same, control means for actuating said actuating means, said forming bars having top portions for forming the bottom of said container, said top portions being substantially at the level of said anvil when said mandrel is moved toward said anvil, and control means for driving a stitch into said bottom against said anvil.

2. A machine for erecting a container for a flowable substance, said machine comprising a stitcher and a mandrel, said stitcher having a stitching head and an anvil extending toward said mandrel, said mandrel being movable toward and away from said anvil, said mandrel being movabl'y connected to said stitcher and comprising movable forming bars adapted to move from a closed position for receiving an unerected container to an open position wherein said forming bars are substantially parallel to each other so as to open the tubular side wall forming portion of said container into tubular form, actuating means for moving said forming bars to their open position, means for retracting the same, control means for actuating said actuating means, said forming bars having top portions for forming the bottom of said container, said top portions being positioned in a slightly inclined plane so that the anvil depresses the bottom of said container when said mandrel is moved toward said anvil and is in stitch receiving position, and control means for driving a stitch into said bottom against said anvil.

3. A machine for erecting a container, said machine comprising a stitcher and a mandrel, said stitcher having a pedestal with an upstanding frame supporting a stitching head with an anvil therebelow, said mandrel being connected to said pedestal and movable toward and away from said anvil, said mandrel comprising a frame with upstanding forming bars connected thereto, an air cylinder mounted between said forming bars, an actuating arm extending from said air cylinder, toggle arms pivotally connected between said forming bars and said actuating arm, means for returning said actuating arm to its normal inoperative position, container positioning means on the outside of said forming bars, control means for actuating said air cylinder, said forming bars adapted to move from a closed position for receiving an unerected container to an open position wherein said forming bars are substantially parallel to each other so as to open the tubular side wall forming portion of said container, said forming bars having top portions for forming the bottom of said container, at least one of said top portions being positioned below the level of said anvil and at least one being positioned above the level of said anvil when said mandrel is pivoted toward said anvil and is in stitch receiving position, and control means for driving a stitch into a portion of said container bottom against said anvil.

4. A machine for erecting a container, said machine comprising a stitcher and a mandrel, said stitcher having a pedestal with an upstanding frame supporting a stitching head with an anvil therebelow, said mandrel being connected to said pedestal and movable toward and away from said anvil, said mandrel comprising a frame with upstanding forming bars connected thereto, actuating means mounted on a center support between said forming bars, an actuating arm extending from said actuating means, arms connected between said forming bars and said actuating arm, return means connected to said actuating arm for returning said actuating arm to its inoperative position, container positioning means on the outside of said forming bars, control means for operating said actuating means, said forming bars adapted to move from a closed inoperative position for receiving an unsaid forming bars are substantially parallel to each other so as to open the tubular side wall forming portion of said container, said forming bars having top portions for forming the bottom of said container, said top portions being positioned substantially at the level of said anvil when said mandrel is pivoted toward said anvil and is in stitch receiving position, and control means for driving a stitch into a portion of said container bottom against said anvil.

5. A machine for erecting a container for a flowable substance, said machine comprising a stitcher and a mandrel, said stitcher having a pedestal with an upstanding frame supporting a stitching head with an anvil therebelow, said mandrel being pivotally connected to said pedestal and movable toward and away from said anvil, said mandrel comprising a frame with upstanding forming bars pivotally connected thereto, a vertically extending air cylinder mounted between said forming bars, an actuating arm extending from said air cylinder, toggle arms pivotally connected between said forming bars and said actuating arm, a spring connected to said actuating arm for biasing same toward said air cylinder, container positioning means on the outside of said forming bars, control means for actuating said air cylinder, said forming bars adapted to move from a closed position for receiving an unerected container to an open position where in said forming bars are substantially parallel to each other so as to open the tubular side wall forming portion of said container, said forming bars having top portions for forming the bottom of said container, at least one of said top portions being positioned below the level of said anvil and at least one being positioned above the level of said anvil when said mandrel is pivoted toward said anvil and is in stitch receiving position, and control means for driving a stitch into a portion of said container bottom against said anvil.

6. A machine for erecting a container for a flowable substance, said machine comprising a stitcher and a mandrel, said stitcher having a pedestal with an upstanding frame supporting a stitching head with a forwardly extending anvil therebelow, said mandrel being pivotally connected to said pedestal rearwardly of the forward edge of said anvil and movable toward and away from said anvil, said mandrel comprising a frame with upstanding forming bars pivotally connected thereto, said forming bars adapted to move from a closed position for receiving an unerected container to an open position wherein said forming bars are substantially parallel to each other so as to open the tubular side wall forming portion of said container, central actuating means mounted between said forming bars comprising an air cylinder having an actuating arm extending therefrom to said mandrel frame, a-nms pivotally connected between said forming bars and said actuating arm for pivoting said forming bars, spring means for biasing said actuating means to its normal closed position, container positioning means on the out side of said forming bars, control means for actuating said air cylinder, said forming bars having top portions for forming the bottom of said container, at least one of said top portions being positioned below the level of said anvil and at least one being positioned above the level of said anvil when said mandrel is pivoted toward said anvil and is in stitch receiving position, and control means for driving a stitch into a portion of said container bottom against said anvil.

7. A machine for erect-ing -a container for a fiowable substance, said machine comprising a stitcher and a mandrel, said stitcher having a pedestal with an upstanding frame supporting a stitching head with a forwardly extending narrow anvil therebelow, said mandrel being pivotally connected to said pedestal at a point rearwardly of the forward edge of said anvil and movable toward and away from said :anvil, said mandrel comprising a frame with upstanding forming bars pivotally connected erected container to an open operative position wherein thereto, there being one forming bar for each corner of the container to be erected, said forming bars adapted to move from a closed position for receiving an unerected container to an open position wherein said forming bars are substantially parallel to each other so as to open the tubular side wall forming portion of said container, central actuating means mounted between said forming bars,

comprising a vertically extending air cylinder mounted between said forming bars, an actuating arm extending downwardly from said air cylinder, toggle arms pivotally connected between said forming bars and said actuating 10 arm, a spring connected to said actuating arm for normally biasing same toward said air cylinder, container positioning means on the outside of said forming bars, control means for actuating said air cylinder, said forming bars having top portions for fonming the bottom of 15 said container, said top portions of said forming bars closest to said stitcher being positioned below the level of said anvil when said mandrel is pivoted toward said 8 anvil and is in stitch receiving position for depressing the bottom of said container, and control means for driving'a stitch into a portion of said container bottom against said anvil.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 896,952 Sturgeon Aug. 25, 1908 1,452,588 Bliss Apr. 24, 1923 1,514,364 Bliss Nov. 4, 1924 2,208,259 Harred July 16, 1940 2,272,258 Allen Feb. 10, 1942 2,391,488 Spiller Dec. 25, 1945 2,703,421 Imhof Mar. 8, 1955 2,732,989 Harker Jan. 31, 1956 2,799,861 Allen July 23, 1957 2,823,503 Wolf Feb. 18, 1958 

